


This separation is unbearable

by ceeayeess



Category: Hit the Floor (TV)
Genre: Boys In Love, M/M, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Zero Is The Best Wifey Ever
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-31
Updated: 2016-10-31
Packaged: 2018-08-28 03:50:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8430697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ceeayeess/pseuds/ceeayeess
Summary: Zero is flying off for an away game. He doesn't want Jude to feel lonely, so obviously the best solution is to get Jude a giant teddy bear. Jude isn't sure what to make of this.





	

Jude nearly trips over it when he first steps into the house.

 _It_ being a massive, life-sized, yellow teddy bear sitting in the middle of the living room floor. It is also, for some reason, wearing a Devils jersey and basketball shorts, and good grief, are those _basketball shoes_ on its feet? Granted, they are plushie basketball shoes, but…still. Jude can only imagine the look on some of the Devils players' faces if they ever found out that somewhere out there is a company which makes plushie basketball shoes for soft toys. 

“Well, hello there,” Jude isn’t sure why he is talking to the bear, but it is just there, and he doesn’t know exactly how he should react, or what it is there for. 

Needless to say, Jude doesn’t get a response from the bear, which just continues staring at Jude through its glossy black button eyes. The bear’s fur looks incredibly soft and fluffy, and its belly is large and round and poking out from under the basketball jersey. It is adorable, in the way all teddy bears are. Only this one is extra, extra large. Jude didn’t even know they made teddy bears in such sizes.

His stomach chooses that moment to start reminding Jude that he skipped lunch today, no thanks to a minor PR crisis that had involved a mouthy new Devils player and one decidedly unimpressed senior ESPN sports correspondent. The only meal he’d had all day was bacon, scrambled eggs and toast that Zero had made and served up to him in bed that morning, and Jude’s stomach needs sustenance right _now_. Other things, like investigating the mysterious case of the (giant) teddy bear in the living room, can wait.

After wolfing down a hastily thrown together plate of pasta and sticking the leftovers in the fridge for Zero, Jude takes a quick shower, changes into sweatpants and one of Zero’s singlets, and returns to the living room. He is kind of tired, honestly, and simple logic tells him that Zero and him are the only people living in this house, so if Jude’s not the one who planted this monster of a teddy bear in their living room, then there’s a pretty good chance Zero’s the one who did that. He’s not sure _why_ Zero would do this, and why they even need a teddy bear that’s approximately the size of a fully grown adult male in the first place, but that’s something that can wait for when Zero gets home.

Satisfied with his astute analysis of the situation, Jude proceeds to turn on the TV to watch the latest episode of The Walking Dead. Just because he can, Jude drags Bear to the front of the sofa to use as a foot rest. After all, that thing is taking up so much space on the floor and it’s only right that it contributes to the household in some way, damn it. 

An hour later, Jude is feeling equal parts traumatized and shell-shocked, and he may or may not have moved from his position on the sofa to the floor to cuddle up next to Bear. Then he hears the sound of keys turning in the lock, and Zero is stepping into the house. 

Zero pauses to take in the sight of Jude curled up next to Bear, and Jude starts to feel very alarmed, because that shit-eating grin that’s appeared on Zero’s face? That never bodes well for Jude.

“I was going to say ‘surprise’, but looks like you’ve already found and started using your surprise,” Zero says.

“Errr, what?” Jude says intelligently.

“The bear. He’s supposed to be a surprise for you,” Zero nods at Bear. 

Jude frowns. This doesn’t make sense. “This doesn’t make sense. _Why_ would you get me a bear?” 

Zero tosses his keys onto the table and drops his backpack onto a chair before walking over to sit on the couch. “So you don’t get too lonely. You know, with me flying off for that away game tomorrow for two weeks.”

“I won’t be lonely,” that’s a big bald-faced lie and Jude knows that. So does Zero, judging from the way he rolls his eyes, but Jude perseveres on. “We can always Facetime and we’re always just a text message or a phone call away from each other. And you have been away before.”

“Yes, but not for two weeks, Jude,” Zero replies patiently. “And I know how needy you are. You always want cuddles and you get grumpy and can’t sleep whenever I don’t fulfill your cuddle quota of the night. So I got you the next best thing. You can cuddle this big guy here all you want for the next two weeks. I gotta say though, I’m only flying off tomorrow morning, so you don’t need to start getting comfortable with him this quickly. I don’t know if I should be feeling insulted here.”

“I – I don’t have a freaking _cuddle quota_ ,” Jude splutters. He feels like he should be acting a lot more offended than he actually is right now. Honestly, Zero can be so ridiculous sometimes. Jude doesn’t know why he is even surprised by some of the things Zero says and/or does anymore.

“Yes, you do, Jude,” Zero snickers. “Remember how you made puppy dog eyes at me and whined until I came back to bed to cuddle you last night after we had sex?”

“I was cold!” Jude frowns. “And you were taking way too long to throw away the condom.”

“Or this morning, when I got up early to make you breakfast in bed, and you insisted that I get back into bed with you so we could cuddle and eat together?”

“That was…oh, shut up,” Jude groans, letting his head fall back against the couch. He knows, even without looking, that the shit-eating grin on Zero’s face has reached epic proportions by now.

“See? Cuddle quota,” Zero’s smugness is palpable. “But that’s not the point. Have you taken a look at his jersey yet?”

“Yea, I know he’s wearing a Devils jersey. Did you get one made with a special name for him or something?”

“No, of course not,” Zero reaches over and rotates Jude’s head with one hand so that he’s looking down at Bear, and uses the other hand to smooth out Bear’s jersey where it is all rumpled up. And Jude sees it. The big digit _0_ printed on the front of the jersey. His breath catches.

“Is that – is that your…?”

“Yes, that’s my basketball jersey,” Zero grins. “So you have your own Zero Bear to keep you company on those cold and lonely nights.” He wiggles his eyebrows at Jude. 

To say that Jude is touched is an understatement. That’s actually the single sweetest thing Zero (or, if he’s being honest, anyone) has ever done for Jude, barring perhaps that kiss at the arena. Which is saying a lot, because Zero seems to have made it his own personal mission to show Jude how much he is loved and cherished at any given opportunity.

And well, there’s only one way to properly show appreciation for that kind of gesture. So Jude clambers off the floor and onto Zero’s lap, leans down and seals his mouth over Zero’s. Zero’s hands slide down Jude’s back to squeeze his ass, and then the two of them are pulling away from each other, hastily shrugging off shirts and pants and underwear. Their lips crash together once more, and it is a while before either of them think about Zero Bear again.

\-------

Jude finds himself growing attached to Zero Bear very quickly, although he will firmly deny ever taking Zero Bear to bed with him for snuggles to his dying day.


End file.
